Laundry Soap
by Takianna
Summary: This was written as a gift for someone, but it's just about a day in the life.


Rex pulled his fatigues from his laundry duffle and shoved them into the washer. He crammed in as many as he possibly could. He didn't want to spend all day in this place trying to get his clothes clean. Something bad had happened to the laundry droid after Cody's men had gotten ahold of it and now all the men were responsible for washing their own clothes. He'd rather be shot at and if Cody didn't watch it, the commander would find a blaster pistol tucked neatly under his chin for making Rex wash his own clothes.

It felt like they were back on Kamino. When they were merely children, they had been given washroom duty. The gray aliens said that it was so they could learn responsibility. Hell, they stuck pistols in their hands when they were five, how much more responsibility did they think the clones needed? So the stark white laundry room with bright lights, reminded him of those days back on Kamino. Not the most pleasant memories to have. He hated it there, but didn't they all?

Lifting one leg, Rex stomped the clothes down into the washer with his boot. It was sufficiently packed full of the clothes he wore when he wasn't on duty, which wasn't that often anymore. It had been a very long time since he had done laundry.

Closing the lid, Rex selected the cycle for his clothes. Damn, he had forgotten to bring any soap. Well this was going to have to be one of those times when it was water wash only. A smile spread across his lips as he thought about all the times they "water washed" the older clones clothes on Kamino as a joke. For some reason they couldn't understand why their clothes still smelled and it made all the younger clones snicker.

The washer began to fill and Rex hefted himself up onto it easily. He opened the weapons manual he brought to keep him occupied while the clothes were washing. Hopefully it didn't take all day. He wanted to get some sleep and possibly eat. Those were luxuries during this war. Food was sounding really good about now, but he didn't dare leave his clothes here. Like clones, fatigues all looked alike and he didn't want someone taking his clothes.

The door to the laundry room opened and General Skywalker appeared with a small bag slung over one shoulder. Rex jumped from the washer and snapped to attention. The snap didn't sound so good without armor on. The armor tended to make it sound so much more precise. Rex liked the sound it made and missed when he wasn't wearing it.

"Don't worry, Captain," Anakin said throwing his bag onto the washer next to the one Rex had jammed full. "I'm just here to get some clean clothes."

Rex didn't move, standing still and straight. Anakin rolled his eyes and shook his head in disgust.

"You're gonna make me say it?" he asked in a exasperated tone. "Okay...at ease SOLDIER!"

Rex took up a more casual stance, but it was far from how a normal person would stand. There was still something so military about the way he moved. Habits were very hard to break, even though General Skywalker had asked him many times to be more casual.

"I swear to the force," Anakin said throwing the last of his laundry into the washer and closing the lid. "You really have to lighten up a little. I'm not General Skywalker in the laundry room. I'm just Anakin. I mean my clothes are just as dirty as yours."

Rex nodded. Anakin swung himself up onto the washer he had just closed and let his feet dangle over the sides like a little kid who's chair was too big for him.

"Laundry soap sir?" Rex asked looking over his shoulder at where Anakin was sitting on the washer.

"Yeah," Anakin said shaking a small box. "I put it in there."

"May I borrow some?"

Anakin threw the box in Rex's direction. There was no doubt that the reflexes bred into the clones would make the box easy to catch. The box landed easily in Rex's hand and he opened his washer and added a small amount. Too much and the clothes that he had so unceremoniously shoved into the washer would make it overflow with suds causing a mess that Rex just didn't want to have to clean up.

"Thank you sir," Rex said handing the box back to the General and closing the lid. He pulled himself back up to sitting on the washer his clothes were in and returned to reading the manual. Rex was only about halfway through reading about the new weapons.

"What you got there?" Anakin asked interrupting Rex's reading to lean in towards the book trying to get a look at it.

"New manual for tactical weapons," Rex said showing him the page he was on. "I think some of this stuff is going to help turn the tide."

Anakin smiled. Clones loved weapons and the newest in technology used in the war. When the droid poppers had first come into use, they were all scrambling to see who could get their hands on them first. Captain Rex had used the first two in battle and Anakin knew that he had smiled the whole time under his helmet. When you were part of a group which was so much alike, you had to do something which made you stand out.

"Never enough to learn, is there?" Anakin giggled at the clone.

"I don't understand your meaning sir."

Anakin pulled the manual from Rex's hands and closed it. He set it down on the washer and looked at the clone. Rex was a friend and confident. Anakin wanted him to get his mind off of what was going outside of this laundry room.

"Can you just put the war away for awhile?" the General asked shrugging. "Just put it out of your mind."

"I can't," Rex admitted truthfully. "It's what we do. It's what we are best at and what we were bred to do."

"Yeah, but what are you good at Rex?"

The difference between being good at being a soldier and being Rex was not that clear to the clone captain. Rex was good because he was a soldier. Rex was good because he knew when to fire and when not to. Rex was good because he could see tactical plans and understand how things were going to turn out. Rex was good because he knew that sometimes plans didn't always go the way you thought they would and you had to make life and death choices. That is what made him good. Without those things, there wasn't much he was good at doing.

"Do you sing in the shower?" Anakin asked seeing the look on Rex's face as he puzzled over what the General had said to him.

"NO!" Rex said embarrassed.

"Just asking because I know several of the men do. That's how they release tension."

"Not me sir."

"Alright so singing isn't your thing. There has to be something you do outside of the war that makes you feel good."

There was something which made him very happy. Watching as General Skywalker's padawan Ahsoka Tano grew and learned. Friendship between them had started from the beginning when Rex had been given the job of protecting her. Rex now cherished the time they spent together. She felt like the sister he would never have and he enjoyed showing her different things everyday. In return, Ahsoka had taught him many things about himself. She also played a mean game of cards and had slaughtered almost every man in Torrent Company at the gaming table. She had given Rex insight into beating several of the men himself.

"I like to spend time with friends," Rex admitted although he didn't name any names fearing that Ahsoka's friendship would somehow get her in trouble. The clones were all too familiar with the fact that Jedi were not allowed some of the same things that other people were allowed. It was hard to understand sometimes.

"Ah yes. Ahsoka has been teaching you boys to play cards," Anakin said looking at him thoughtfully. "She said you were all pretty good, but that she wiped the table with most of you."

"She has the force sir," Rex said an edge rising in his voice, but still keeping it very respectful.

"Do you think she cheats?"

"I didn't say that."

"You did."

"No sir."

"I wouldn't put it past her."

Anakin and Rex both erupted into laughter. The tension of the war seemed to slip away as the soap washed the dirt from their clothes. They were merely sharing a moment that didn't involve having to save lives and rescue those who shouldn't be in harms way. They were brothers, bound together by the things they had seen and the experiences they had shared.


End file.
